There have been numerous designs of boats or ships that operate while at least partially supported by artificially pressurized air cushions. Examples include the hovercraft that has full periphery flexible seals and as such is amphibious, the generic xe2x80x9cSESxe2x80x9d (an acronym of Surface Effect Ship) that has catamaran sidehulls with the air cushion disposed between the sidehulls and restrained by the sidehulls and flexible seals fore and aft that span the distance between the sidehulls, and applicant""s prior patents related to partially air supported boats or ships. U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,095 is an example of applicant""s prior work on partially air-supported boats or ships. The instant invention is applicable to both mono-hull and multi-hull ships.
The instant invention that is the subject of this application discloses significant advances in the technology of partially air supported ships. While applicable to all size and use ships, this new technology is most appropriately applied to larger vessels of either mono-hull or multi-hull configurations. Some of the advantages are a significant reduction in propulsor power requirements and a great increase in stability. Applicant has coined the acronym xe2x80x9cACESxe2x80x9d which is derived from the descriptive term xe2x80x9cAir Cushion Enhanced Shipxe2x80x9d to describe this new technology. The term ACES is used when discussing the instant invention in this application.
The instant invention offers advancements over applicant""s earlier prior art inventions as well as all other prior art. These advancements are discussed in some detail in the following sections.
The object of the instant invention is to provide a marine vehicle that is at least partially supported by an artificially pressurized gas cushion wherein such vessel or ship has superior efficiencies to other more conventional ships over a wide range of operational speeds.
It is a related object of the invention that the instant invention ship may be of mono-hull or multi-hull configuration.
A related object of the invention is that addition of a stern bustle allows fluids, gas and/or water, flowing aft of the transom or stern of the ship to rise, while still in contact with the ship, to a level at least approaching the level of a calm sea surface waterline surrounding the ship.
It is a further related object of the invention that fluids rising while in contact with a stern bustle shall exert a forward force on the ship.
It is a directly related object of the invention that the stern bustle shall be in contact with an aft gas cushion seal of the ship.
It is yet another directly related object of the invention that gases exiting the aft gas cushion seal and water will be the fluids passing under the stern bustle.
It is yet another object of the invention that the stern bustle can start to taper inward going aft from a point forward of the stern or transom of the ship.
It is another related object of the invention that the stern bustle may be at least in part curvilinear on its lower surface.
It is a further related object of the invention that the stern bustle may taper inward going aft.
It is a directly related object of the invention that the stern bustle may be truncated at its aft end.
It still another directly related object of the invention that sides of the stern bustle may come together at its aft end.
It is yet another object of the invention that the stern bustle may rise, going aft from the stern of the ship, by an average angle of less than 18 degrees to horizontal.
It is another object of the invention that the stern bustle may rise, going aft from the stern of the ship, by an average angle of less than 12 degrees to horizontal.
It is still another object of the invention that the stern bustle may rise, going aft from the stern of the ship, by an average angle of less than 9 degrees to horizontal.
It is a further object of the intention that the improved marine vehicle""s aft underwater side portion can taper inward going aft.
It is a directly related object of the invention that said aft underwater side portion of said improved marine vehicle can taper inward going aft over at least fifteen percent of a waterline length of said improved marine vehicle.
It is a further directly related object of the invention that said aft underwater side portion of said improved marine vehicle can taper inward going aft over at least twenty-five percent of a waterline length of said improved marine vehicle.
It is a yet a further directly related object of the invention that said aft underwater side portion of said improved marine vehicle can taper inward going aft over at least thirty-five percent of a waterline length of said improved marine vehicle.
It is an object of the invention that the instant inventive ship may be propelled by waterjet type propulsors whereby said propulsors obtain at least a portion of their inlet water from a boundary layer next to the ship thereby improving the thrust output of the propulsor.
It is a directly related object of the invention that a waterjet inlet may be at least partially disposed on the side of the improved marine vehicle or ship.
It is related object of the invention that the side of the improved marine vehicle that waterjet inlet will be disposed in will be, on average as seen in vertical transverse planes of the improved marine vehicle, more vertical than horizontal.
It is yet another related object of the invention that a waterjet inlet may be at least partially disposed in a lower portion of a sidewall of the ship that makes up part of a periphery of the ship""s supporting gas cushion such that said waterjet inlet absorbs inlet water from a boundary layer disposed next to the keel of the sidewall.
It is a directly related object of the invention that the waterjet inlet will take in less than twenty percent of the thickness of the boundary layer proximal said waterjet inlet.
It is a directly related object of the invention that the water et inlet will take in less than thirty percent of the thickness of the boundary layer proximal said waterjet inlet.
It is a directly related object of the invention that the waterjet inlet will take in less than fifty percent of the thickness of the boundary layer proximal said waterjet inlet.
It is another object of the invention that an aft stabilizer fin may be disposed lower than a portion of a stern bustle of the ship and extend outward from the side of the ship.
It is a directly related object of the invention that said aft stabilizer fin can be, at least in part, airfoil shaped.
It yet another related object of the invention that said aft stabilizer fin can include a flap-like member that is capable of trimming the boat.
It is also an object of the invention that a forward stabilizer can extend outward from the hull.
It is a directly related object of the invention that said forward stabilizer be at least partially airfoil shaped.
It is a related object of the invention that said forward stabilizer can include a forward flap-like member that is capable of trimming the ship.
It is yet another directly related object of the invention that the forward stabilizer can include a portion of the supporting gas cushion recess in its underside to thereby enlarge the water contacting area of the gas cushion.
It is a further object of the invention that forward stabilizing fins can extend outward beyond the beam of the hull to thereby add to stability of the ship.
It is a directly related object of the invention that the forward stabilizing fins can angle downward much like the pectoral fins on a shark.
It is a further directly related object of the invention that such forward stabilizing fins be at least partially airfoil shaped.
It is a further related object of the invention that the forward stabilizing fins can be retracted either vertically toward the sides of the ship or downward and inward so that they can be stored, at least in the main, within the confines of the gas cushion recess in the underside of the marine vehicle.
It is yet another related object of the invention that the forward stabilizer fins can include flaps capable of trimming the ship.
It is another object of the invention that the pressurized gas in the supporting gas cushion(s) can be recycled through a gas pressurization means and reinjected into any of the gas cushion(s) to thereby increase the efficiency by decreasing power requirements of the blower pressurizing means.
It is a directly related object of the invention that the gas pressurization means can include a powered blower.
It yet another related object of the invention that the pressurized gas cushion gas that is to be recycled is taken from aft of a gas cushion seal member.
It is another directly related object of the invention that the pressurized gas cushion gas that is to be recycled is taken from between two or more gas cushion seal members.
It is yet another directly related object of the invention that an underwater member such as a hydrofoil can be used to direct gas that is suspended in the water proximal the gas cushion(s) upward into a recess collection means between two or more gas cushion seal members thereby helping to separate the gas entrained in the water from the water.
It is still another related object of the invention that gas cushion seals can be disposed fore and aft of a chamber that is used to separate pressurized gas from water flowing under the advanced marine vehicle.
Another object of the invention is that water deflector members can be arranged transversely across a gas cushion recess.
It is a directly related object of the invention that such water deflector members can be acted on by water waves below the marine vehicle""s hull to thereby add lifting forces to the hull.
It a further directly related object of the invention that pressurized gas can pass through or over the water deflector members to thereby have formed essentially a connected continuous gas cushion on both sides of a water deflector member.
The invention will become better understood upon reference to the drawings and the detailed description of the invention which follow in which: